Growing up Harley
by Alicethequinn
Summary: One Shot, x-over with Harry Potter, kinda, but not set in Hogwarts. The story follows Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) as she grows up. Cover art belongs to snake6666 on deviantART.
1. Chapter 1

**Growing up Harley**

 _One Shot, x-over with Harry Potter, but not set in Hogwarts. The story follows Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) as she grows up._

 _A friend who has a deviantArt account asked on my behalf an artist if I could use their work as my Cover art, Thank you Hernan (snake6666 on deviantart)._

 **Chapter 1**

The Magical Quinzel-line goes back many generations, the oldest, traceable member was a prisoner abandoned on the _Savage Land_ by the Vikings, many years before the America's was _discovered_. It was not until the return of civilization that the line took a name though. The name Quinzel was brought over by a stowaway who romanced a _Savage_ and discovered the magic she held.

But Quinzel magic acted differently, uniquely to those in the line, for only the fairer side held magic. While the rough side still carry the gene and pass it on, if they had a daughter. It is written as a theory, in the old book, that a Norwegian magic user cast the curse on the line because of the prisoner held magic. Not really thinking that the man would survive his wording of the curse was off, but that is only a theory since the first page was blackened by flame a long time ago.

But why is this history important? Simple, after many, many generations of producing only boys, the first girl is born again, named after her _many greats_ grand aunt, Harleen. Young Harleen had a difficult birth, and from the first finger she held she produced magic.

But Harleen's life wasn't perfect. Her father hated her for her magic. Jealousy can bring out the worst in people. Punishment was given for the slightest of things, and meals were withheld. By the time she was seven she had missed at least three years worth of food, if you were feeling kind to say that. It was at the dawn of the new day after her next birthday that Harleen snapped.

She picked up a simple cutting knife from the table and snuck into her father's room. With near surgical precision she separated his heart from his body. She left a note for the police to find before she ran away in search of her mother. The note read:

 _ **I didn't think he would miss it. It wasn't like he ever used it.**_

Harleen never found her mother, but she did find some form of maternal love. After three years of searching in vein and sleeping on the streets Harleen found herself at a zoo. The animals gave Harleen something she never had: love.

For three weeks no-one noticed the little girl living in the zoo, but that was remedied when out of nowhere a stern looking man appeared carrying the key her father always had around his neck and a letter addressed to her.

 _ **Lady Harleen Quinzel**_

 _ **Hyena Enclosure**_

 _ **New York Zoo**_

 _ **New York**_

"Are you sure this is right?" Harleen asked. "'cause I ain't no lady."

"Quite, with your father's demise you inherited his title, wealth and lands. Something he wasn't privy to since he didn't have magic. I am a representative of the Magical Allied Society of Educational Academies or M.A.S.E.A."

"Is that a school or somethin'?" Harleen asked flipping the parchment envelope over.

"Something, there are three Schools of Magical Learning in the United States. You have been accepted at the Salem Witch's Institute. The Institute is a prestige magical learning facility catering for only witches. Your name has been added to their system the day you displayed magic. Your school fees and study materials have been paid for out of your account, so you may disregard the course books in your yearly supply lists, for they will be in this bag." He handed Harleen a messenger bag with integrate symbols all over.

"Whatcha pullin' Mistah, I can't feel nothin' in it?" Harleen was no stranger to magic but growing up away from the world makes her basically muggleborn.

"The bag is enchanted with a featherweight charm, an untraceable expansion charm, a reclaim charm and lastly a summoning charm. For all intensive purposes the bag will remain empty until you want something from it, and you can store anything inside that can fit through the brim."

"So say I wanna put a lamppost in the bag?"

"Technically you will be able to do it yes, but it is not recommended." The man smiled.

"Jus' wond'ring." Harleen smiled then read the note.

 _ **Salem Witch's Institute**_

 _ **Headmistress Laura Bloodgood**_

 _(Order of Merlin 2_ _nd_ _class)_

 _ **Dear Lady Quinzel**_

 _ **We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Salem Witch's Institute. Should you accept our offer let the M.A.S.E.A. correspondent visiting you know.**_

 _ **Please find enclosed a list of supplies for your first year. Students are not allowed familiars or pets. You may bring a form of transportation if you so desire, a list of acceptable mediums can be found on the list.**_

 _ **You will be spirited away when term starts with all your supplies. Have them packed by September 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **.**_

 _ **Yours sincerely**_

 _ **Julia Felts**_

 _ **Deputy Headmistress**_

"Say mistah if I don't wanna go here, what are my options?" Harleen asked folding the first parchment of paper.

"You could apply for the other Schools and maybe get accepted in three to eleven years."

"Slim pickin's gothca." She returned to the letter.

 _ **Salem Witch's Institute**_

 _ **Uniform:**_

 _ **First years will require:**_

 _ **Fitted dresses or robes for Social Gatherings trice a year**_

 _ **One pair of protective gloves**_

 _ **One winter cloak (Lilac)**_

 _ **Please note all clothes should carry name tags. The dress/robe should be worn to the start of term feast.**_

 _ **Equipment:**_

 _ **Wand**_

 _ **Cauldron (Pewter size 2, best for potion brewing in class)**_

 _ **Glass or Crystal Phials**_

 _ **Brass Scales**_

 _ **Approved Mediums of Transportation:**_

 _ **Broom**_

 _ **Enchanted leather glider-jacket**_

 _ **Feather, Membrane or Scaly wing set**_

 _ **Course Books:**_

 _ **Books can be purchased as a package or separately from the SWI collection**_

 _ **Standard book of Spells Grade 1**_

 _ **Modern History of Magic**_

 _ **Transfiguration 101**_

 _ **Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts**_

 _ **Magical Drafts and Potions**_

 _ **Magical Herbs and Fungi of the World**_

 _ **Helpful Books:**_

 _ **Magical Theory**_

 _ **A History of Magic**_

 _ **Defensive Magical Theory**_

Just when Harleen read the last word she felt a tug behind her naval and she was pulled through the air at a very fast spin. When she stopped spinning she toppled over onto the softest paving she ever felt. There was a pop and the M.A.S.E.A. representative appeared.

"Shall we?"

Harleen was lead through the shopping district buying her other equipment and placing it in her bag. The first other magical kid she met was at the robe shop, a raven haired girl going by the name Zatanna Zatara. From the word go Harleen didn't like the girl, but gave her a shot. She was obviously old blood and arrogant to boot.

"Quinzel? I heard of you, long line of squibs." Zatanna said.

"There _is_ a difference between squib and cursed you know." Harleen defended.

"Cute accent, Lower East Side?"

"Greenpoint."

"Same place essentially. So where are you heading."

"Salem," Harleen could see Zatanna almost fall she resisted the urge to smirk.

"I thought you were set for the Gotham Institute." Zatanna said respectfully. "Did you win a scholarship?"

"Jus' 'cause I'm from Brooklyn, dun' automatically mean I'm lower class. Your vault number is somewhere in the high hun'reds right? My family's below 10." With that Harleen jumped from the stool glad that her fitting was over.

The last stop was for her wand. The shop they entered was riddled with ambient magic. Harleen somehow knew that, even if the owner dusted once in a while, the dust would be back within a few seconds. She waited patiently for the shopkeeper to arrive.

"A Quinzel, I am honored." The voice came from a young man with auburn hair and fairy silvery eyes. "Now I could go through the whole measurement routine to take your mind of my eyes scanning you, but we both know you're too observant for that." Harleen giggled while her guide gaped at the man. "Shall we?"

Harleen tried 42 wands before one finally reacted to her.

"Interesting," the shop keeper said while wrapping the wand. "My mentor made this wand while in a state we call _The Wake_. Normally wands made in this state cannot be identified unless you snap them. This wand however can.

"Dogwood is tricky to work with as it enjoys being entertained. RE'EM horn cores haven't been seen in a very long time. This wand has been in this shop for 50 years and has never chosen anyone."

With her wand safely tucked into her bag Harleen looked around the shop and noticed a few oddities. Upon requiring she found out that, even though the shop keeper gets a monthly salary from the government, it can only keep him afloat. Being a young man he needs some _fun times_ to satisfy his other needs.

So he bought the shop next door and broke it into the wand shop. There he sells all matter of other items, like wand servicing kits, wand holsters and magical transportation maintenance kits. Harleen bought a wand holster for her boots and arm and a wand servicing kit.

Harleen got a room at the inn where her guide bought lunch before going back home. There she would stay for the next month studying her books and casting lesser spells to get a feel for her wand.

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This is my first story, please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Growing up Harley**

 _One Shot, x-over with Harry Potter, but not set in Hogwarts. The story follows Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) as she grows up._

 **Chapter 2**

The last few weeks blew by so fast that Harleen could hardly believe that it was time. During the month she decided on a mode of transportation though, a set of membrane wings. She chose them because it reminded her of Tinker Bell from the Peter Pan movie. She also forced herself to not speak in a thick Brooklyn accent, just in case there were more girls like Zatanna.

When she was spirited away to her new school she was grateful that she chose them. The school was huge, at least as tall as a New York Skyscraper and it was at least as wide as Manhattan Island.

"It is larger than what I heard." Harleen heard a voice behind her it was Zatanna. "Oh good morning Harleen, had a pleasant month?"

"Quite, I really got used to these fitted wings and got through our book load, what about you?"

"Father wouldn't let me out of his sight. I did meet some of his associates though. That is always useful."

Harleen noticed that there weren't any other girls beside the two of them. She wanted to sigh, but kept it in out of respect.

"Is it just us?" Harley asked.

"It would appear that way. There weren't a lot of girls from our year that could afford the tuition fees of this place. Until I met you, I thought I was going to be here alone. Nice dress, but did you really need the two tones?"

The bodice of the dress Harleen wore was black on the left and red on the right. Out of it came a four layered skirt, alternating between red and black.

"Yeah, I couldn't decide between my two favorite colors so the lady at the shop gave me this as a compromise." Harleen smiled, "Besides white does tend to stain easier, love your design though.

Zatanna wore a dress that reminded Harleen of Cinderella, except it was white instead of blue.

"You can't go wrong with white. That is what father says. I personally would've liked it yellow or green."

They reached the entrance and was escorted to the Banquet Hall deep inside the castle, for that is what this island sized monster was. Just outside the hall was a fierce looking stone gargoyle. Harleen could feel it peer into her soul, well not really but it was searching for something inside her head, beside her she could see Zatanna in a similar violated state.

"Lady Harleen Quinzel, you have been deemed worthy of your magic and shall be a tribute to our school. Enter the hall and sit at the left table." The gargoyle turned to Zatanna and repeated the exact words, her all white dress's skirts turned red and her bodice black.

"See what I mean with white is safe?" Zatanna giggled and the girls entered the hall and sat amongst the sea or red and black.

"Welcome to Phoenix House." A girl wearing a prefect badge smiled. "Glad to see that both of you made it here, last year we haven't had new students the ten girls made it into the other houses, I am Dinah Drake."

The feast began and Harleen could hardly contain herself. It was beautiful, and to think her father used to starve her and treated her like dirt, yet now she could afford the best and she would be living it up as much as she could. The only problem was that she was confused with the layout.

She spied the other girls and copied their eating habits. Seriously wouldn't it make more sense to start from the inside and work your way out, or better yet, just eat with a single fork and knife? But Harleen could fake it with the best of them and didn't voice her thoughts. After the last morsel of desert vanished the Headmistress stood up and walked to the podium.

"Welcome all to another year at our fine institute of learning. We regret not having more new students, but welcome our two newest arrivals. Let us now go over the general rules and regulations, for their benefit, and to remind _some_ of you of them as well." At this a pair of girls higher up the table smiled at each other.

"Our castle is huge, and as such magical transportation is recommended, but this does not open the floor for _racing down the halls_. The top twenty is out of bounds for it functions as a sanctuary for vampires, whom have graced us with the use of this facility for generations. The forest to the south is unsafe, and therefore should be avoided, unless accompanied by a teacher, especially during full moons.

"Lastly before we depart for bed, I need to remind you that Magic isn't allowed in the halls between classes, our house elves are stretched thin as is, we don't want to give them anymore work than necessary. Respect them and they will respect you."

Harleen and Zatanna were guided up to the higher levels by Dinah, who was a fourth year prefect. There they were shown to large room with several king-sized beds with privacy curtains. Dinah explained that at one time each year had at least fifteen new witched per house, but most either died out or ran out of money. Most potential candidates ended up in Gotham School of Magical Learning.

The next morning came bright and early. Harleen took a shower and got dressed in a pair of red jeans and a black, Black Sabbath t-shirt. The dress code said that the dress was only to be worn during the Opening Feast, Samhain and Yuletide.

"Is that what you're wearing?" Zatanna asked coming out of the bathroom. Harleen took a quick glance at her planned outfit and shrugged.

"Sure, it is comfortable." Zatanna couldn't deny that it did seem that way.

"But it would ruin your reputation, wouldn't it?" Zatanna gave a nervous, or was it a longing, glance at Harleen's wardrobe.

"I come from Brooklyn, what reputation would I have? You pecked me for Gotham when you saw me. This is an improvement." Harleen laughed then proceeded to pull on her boots and place her wand in the holster in her boot and tapping her necklace to activating her wings.

They went down to the Banquet Hall for breakfast where they received their planned lessons for the year. (See tumblr link in profile for Schedule)

Transfiguration was up the stairs to almost the very edge. As it turned out the transfiguration teacher was bitten by a vampire to save her life when she was 19. By some form of miracle she retained her magic and became one of the best transfiguration teachers in the world. Her name is Abigail Snegovik.

"Transfiguration is one of most difficult magic you will learn. You play in class you go away, there's door, goodbye." She then made them take extensive notes until finally she gave them each a match. "You turn to needle now, remember notes."

Harleen looked at the simple wooden stick and she could clearly see it transform into a needle she took a deep breath and uttered the incantation, a bit distracted by Zatanna's special circumstances. The teachers were burdened to ignore her backwards speech, as was the Zatara curse. In seconds the match was shifting into a needle.

"Good work," Snegovik said with a smile. "I see you see it happen first. Good way to do transfiguration. Ms. Zatara, you need say faster or spell not work, good work on wand."

"Mrofsnart!" Zatanna said looking close to tears. It broke Harleen's heart.

"Zee calm down." Harleen said holding Zatanna's wand arm. "Good, now what is the main difference between the match and a needle?"

"One is wood and the other metal?" Zatanna asked unsure.

"Yes now what does the notes say about the properties of wood and metal?"

"Wood has a lower density than metal. The higher density is more compact over the same area – Thank you Harley! Mrofsnart!" With that Zatanna's match turned into a needle, just as the bell rang.

"Ms. Quinzel, word please." The teacher said with a smile. Zatanna looked unsure as Harleen told her she would be fine.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Harleen asked unsure.

"No," Snegovik smiled, "You distract Ms. Zatara is good. She too nervous the words not want to come out, thank you."

"I learned the hard way that if you occupy your mind with other stuff you forget to be nervous. Thought that Zatanna could use a bit of help." Harleen smiled.

Harleen found Zatanna in their room. There Harleen explained why she did what she did in class. At first Zatanna wanted to shout but then she saw it from a different angle. She told Harleen about the expectations her father had for her, that made her nervous to be the best she could be.

Potions class was taught in the lower levels, Dinah explained that it was the best way to preserve the ingredients, since electricity doesn't work well with magic. The class was taught by a lanky woman with greasy hair, Julia Felts the deputy headmistress.

"I am a Potions Master, well Mistress." She explained. "I spend most of my time around simmering cauldrons, the shimmering fumes find their way into your hair eventually, and if you choose to master in it then yes your hair will become greasy.

"Now in this class there is no wand waving, other than vanishing flopped potions. Potions can be dangerous so no fooling around. I hope you at least read the introduction to the subject or else this would be a long period. We are going to brew a simple three ingredient potion to cure boils. A flopped potion will melt your cauldron and cause very painful boils."

Stark took them through the steps to set up the cauldron correctly and made sure that their burners could be adjusted correctly. She then left them to it, as it turned out Harleen also had a knack for mixing chemicals, who knew, but Zatanna was no slouch. They brewed a perfect potion.

With potions done they went to lunch and did their homework, a great idea, having a double period dedicated to only homework. They breezed through the work and enjoyed their free time before dinner. Wondering what the next day would bring.

The next day started with potions where they were quizzed on the potion they brewed the previous day and tasked with finding alternate means to apply the potion. The ideas were tossed around and rejected at the end of the lesson Felts had this to say:

"The potions we make has already been fine tuned to the most basic form it can be, even though we discussed numerous ways remember that someone else probably had that thought too at some stage. It won't be until you move beyond O.W.L. that the ingredient quantities merely act as a suggestion for a basic form of the potion."

Charms class was taught by a very beautiful woman, only known as Blue. Now Blue wasn't just your typical woman, she was nymph. The headmistress hired her to teach Charms because she wanted to one-up the old way of thinking. As it turned out having the nymph as a teacher worked out in their favor, no other school had better students in Charms.

"We won't be doing any magic in our first class," she said. "Our goal today is to practice the 25 wrist movement and variants to produce the best charms. It might seem harsh but a flick where there should've been a jab could mean life and death."

The wand movement they were practicing was a swirl, used to change colors. The swirl started from the centre and moved out three times. The width of the swirl's outer edge indicated the area that it had to cover. They practiced through the class and the next day they were ready to try the incantations. After that they were given the rest of the period to hold a kind of fight with colors. Harleen ended up with black hair and golden spots. Zatanna however looked like a harlequin in white, red and black. Blue was impressed and she told them that.

Herbology didn't have a lot of written assignments the girls soon found, it was a class dedicated to the care and harvesting of plants used in potions. Zatanna didn't really enjoy working in the dirt. Harleen on the other hand enjoyed getting her hands dirty. The class was taught by a motherly woman called Venus McFly.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is a dangerous subject." Their teacher Claudine Wolfe said as they sat down. "During the coming years I will attempt to teach you how to protect yourselves against the Dark Arts and show you what it looks like. You can't defend yourself if you don't know what you are defending against, any questions?"

"Are you a werewolf?" Harleen smiled up at the teacher, "Because that would be so cool."

"Yes Ms. Quinzel, I have been infected with Lycanthropy when I was a little girl, and once a month there will be a replacement for me, a dear friend, Ms. Stein." With that a dark haired beauty walked into the class, Frankie Stein.

"Hello, as Ms. Wolfe pointed out I am a monthly replacement while she works off her furry little problem." Frankie Stein looked no older than 16 years. It boggled Harleen's mind.

"I can see your gears working and I will answer the unasked question. When I was 16 some friends and I went to South America. There we came across a mucky puddle, I slipped and fell in. It turned out that the puddle was the last remaining water from the fountain of youth."

"It absorbed into your skin?" Zatanna asked then grasped her mouth. Stein smiled and nodded.

There was a brief explanation on what exactly is considered Dark Arts and the entire lesson was planned out for the year. Then they were given homework on recognizing signs of ethereal possessions because the next lesson was on ghosts.

The next day almost flew by bat came to a sudden halt with the lesson after lunch. Since it was Friday they didn't get a study period, having a full weekend to do their work, instead they had History of Magic.

History of Magic was taught by a very unlikely contender, a muggle that stumbled into the castle by accident. Unable to leave she started studying and gained extensive knowledge of the Magical world. She jumped at the opportunity to teach when it presented itself. Unfortunately the reason she couldn't leave was because she was dead. She goes by the name Loretta Leroux.

The class at least kept them awake because Leroux was only 17 when she died. She had an upbeat voice that could capture any audience, and perhaps mesmerize them. Harleen involuntary thought of the Phantom of the Opera, when Leroux introduced herself.

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Harleen: The first week sure was interesting. Can't wait to see what happens next. Give me some ideas in your reviews I mean we got like an island all to ourselves, all the possibilities, the entrance just happen to open at Salem. Thanks in advance, please review.


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